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Questions in this GPS marked with Ø are particularly recommended for group discussion. Group leaders may add other discussion questions, or substitute other questions for the marked ones, at their discretion.
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“He found them sleeping”
Thursday, 14 September 2017
Mark 14:32 They went to a place called Gat Sh’manim; and Yeshua said to his talmidim, “Sit here while I pray.” 33 He took with him Kefa, Ya‘akov and Yochanan. Great distress and anguish came over him; 34 and he said to them, “My heart is so filled with sadness that I could die! Remain here and stay awake.” 35 Going on a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that if possible, the hour might pass from him: 36 “Abba!” (that is, “Dear Father!”) “All things are possible for you. Take this cup away from me! Still, not what I want, but what you want.” 37 He came and found them sleeping; and he said to Kefa, “Shim‘on, are you asleep? Couldn’t you stay awake one hour? 38 Stay awake, and pray that you will not be put to the test — the spirit indeed is eager, but human nature is weak.”
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Jesus had a profound and powerful sense of mission guiding his steps toward the cross. But that did not make the prospect of a humiliating, violent execution any easier to face. Mark wrote that “he began to feel despair and was anxious.” He took his three closest disciples with him, including Peter, and asked them to “stay alert and pray.” But, any prior boasting notwithstanding, they couldn’t do it.
• One element of this story is simple irony. Peter, the disciple who confidently said, “Even if everyone else stumbles, I won’t,” couldn’t even stay awake for Jesus! Jesus’ response about the eager spirit and weak flesh recalled the psalm that said God shows compassion “because God knows how we’re made, God remembers we’re just dust” (Psalm 103:149). When have you meant well, but just not been up to living out what God wanted you to do?
Ø The story also shows us an important truth. If any human ever had a direct connection to God, it was Jesus. Yet he asked his three closest friends to be with him, stay alert and pray. Do you try to hide your hurts and your needs from your friends, to handle them on your own? Or are you, like Jesus, open to asking people you trust for the friendship and support you need?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, I’m so tempted to say, “Well, I’d have stayed awake with you.” Then I realize I sound like Peter. Keep me humble, putting my confidence in you more than in my own spiritual strength. Amen.
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James Cochran
James Cochran serves as the Director of Counseling Ministries. He is a licensed professional counselor and completed his graduate studies at University of Missouri – Kansas City. His professional experience includes counseling in a private practice setting, conducting mental health assessments in an emergency room, and developing programs for non-profits. James’s defining passion is helping people become who God created them to be. Resurrection has been James’s home church since he was in elementary school.
The story of Peter falling asleep in Gethsemane offers essential lessons about trust and human weakness. We can look to Peter’s intentions, his behaviors, and his subsequent interactions with Jesus to more clearly understand our own failings.
We look to Peter’s behaviors in this story and our immediate reaction is, “If I’m not careful, I too could find myself yielding to the temptations of the flesh despite my best intentions.” This reaction is fair, and it’s no doubt the most salient truth to be found in this passage. Maybe I’ve been thinking like a therapist too long, but my chief concern when reading this passage is about Peter’s sleep pattern. More specifically, I’m worried about his self-care. And maybe my own.
Peter thought of himself as the star disciple. We see him asking questions when others are silent, saying yes when others are saying no, and getting out of the boat when others stay safely inside. On the one hand, we admire his ambition. Our culture applauds the extra effort, praises the employee who gets in early and stays late, promotes the one who takes on special projects. On the other hand, we know this kind of breakneck pace is the surest recipe for burnout or, in Peter’s case, falling asleep on the job.
I wonder how this story would be different if Peter put more thought into his self-care. For most of us, staying up late to work on a special project isn’t a big deal as long as it’s a once-in-a-while kind of occurrence. But Peter strikes me as the kind of guy who isn’t getting enough sleep. Is he staying up late and waking early, hoping this extra effort will secure him the promotion to “Greatest Among Jesus’s Disciples”?
A little over a year ago, I set out to be very intentional about exercise. I got connected with a remote trainer who would send me workouts to complete, and soon I was in the gym four or five days each week. My hope was I would be able to achieve a level of fitness and energy that would allow me to be a more engaged father and husband. But I started to notice I only felt tired, sore and achy. Far from being filled with energy, I was pushing myself so hard there were times all I had the energy to do was lie on the ground.
I think the moral of this story is, my ambition was actually counter-productive. I was giving so much of myself on a day-in, day-out basis I didn’t have anything left when it really counted. Peter, too, strikes me as the kind of person who wanted to give all of himself, all the time. Unfortunately, when Jesus asked him to stay up late one night he found even his best intentions couldn’t make up for the fact that he was a flesh-and-blood person, and the bill always comes due.
This passage calls me to look at the spaces in my life where my best intentions are leading to poor boundaries or poor self-care. Where am I over-extended? Is it possible my performance would improve if I recommitted to self-care? Maybe if Peter had gotten a good night’s sleep the night before, he would have found his behaviors and his best intentions aligned when it mattered most. Maybe the same is true for all of us.
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"Peter drew his sword"
Friday, 15 September 2017
Luke 22:49-51, John 18:3-12
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Led by Judas, what seems an absurdly large force arrived to arrest Jesus. Peter, who said, “I’ll give up my life for you” (John 13:37), bravely drew his sword to defend Jesus. Had he kept fighting, he’d likely have died. (Living for Jesus proved the harder task.) Luke, probably showing his physician’s heart (cf. Colossians 4:14), recorded that even amid all that turmoil, Jesus paused to heal the ear that Peter’s slightly misaimed blow had cut off.
Ø Later Jesus told the Roman procurator Pilate, ““My kingdom doesn’t originate from this world. If it did, my guards would fight…. My kingdom isn’t from here.” Peter tried to fight, and Jesus stopped him. We still live in a world where violence often feels like the only viable response to evil. Is it? To what extent do you believe Jesus was right, and to what extent was his situation different from “real life”?
• Think about the man Malchus. “A personal servant of the high priest could wield much authority, including over the temple police.” * The text didn’t follow him further. Do you imagine that, with his ear restored by Jesus’ healing touch, he stayed busy the next day arranging Jesus’ execution? Might that experience have so altered his outlook that, if not immediately, perhaps by the day of Pentecost he was part of the group who responded to Peter’s preaching by joining the Jesus movement (cf. Acts 2:36-41)?
Prayer: King Jesus, when I see things that seem wrong, I so readily use words like “destroy,” “smash” or even “nuke.” But even as you faced the cross, you tried to stop the cycle of violence, not feed it. Teach me more about your ways, your kingdom. Amen.
* HarperCollins Christian Publishing. NIV, Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, eBook: Bringing to Life the Ancient World of Scripture (Kindle Locations 241308-241309). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
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“Peter went out and cried uncontrollably”
Saturday, 16 September 2017
John 18:15-18, 25-27, Luke 22:59-62
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Let’s review: of all the disciples, only Peter walked on water (Matthew 14:28-29). He was the first to say flat out that Jesus was the Messiah (Mark 8:27-29). On this fateful evening, Luke wrote, “Lord,” Peter said, “I’m ready to go with you, both to prison and to death!” (Luke 22:33) Yet, when the crunch came, he wasn’t, in fact, “ready.” He discovered that Jesus knew him better than he knew himself. He was no coward—but he was a human being facing kinds of pressure he’d never faced, and didn’t anticipate.
• Pastor Adam Hamilton wrote, “The incident [Peter’s denial] is one of the few that is mentioned in all Four Gospels…. It was not included to embarrass Peter…. The gospel writers knew the story because Peter must have regularly told the awful truth of that episode himself.” * Has pressure ever led you to be ashamed of and to hide your allegiance to Jesus? What do you think Peter saw in Jesus’ eyes when Jesus looked straight at him that broke his heart (and may have preserved his eternal life)? When have you grown through a failure that God’s grace enabled you to embrace and learn from?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, like Peter, I need to keep learning things about myself, finding room to grow even in areas I thought I had mastered. Thank you for your ongoing grace, for nudging me to grow even in places where I may think I’m done growing. Amen.
* Adam Hamilton, 24 Hours that Changed the World. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2009, p. 58. Family Activity: Jesus often shows us the power of forgiveness. Blow up one balloon for each family member. Place them in the center of the room. Invite each family member to choose one balloon and a marker. Ask each person to draw a picture or write words representing something they have done wrong. Read I John 1:9 aloud. Explain that this means that no matter what we do, we can tell God we are sorry and God forgives us. Pray together, asking God to forgive what is written on your balloons. After you pray, have each person pop his or her balloon, representing God forgiving and forgetting your sin. Continue until each person has popped their balloon. Thank God for forgiving our sins.
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Prayer Requests – cor.org/prayer Prayers for Peace & Comfort for:
•Christy Bradley and family on the death of her mother Carolyn McDonald, 9/6
• Julie Allison and family on the death of her mother Barbara Jean Allison, 9/5
•Clay Patterson and family on the death of his step-mother Jeanne Lillig-Patterson, 9/4
•Karl Neybert and Anne Marie Wells and families on the death of their father Gregory Neybert, 9/2
•Cathy AuBuchon and family on the death of her husband Jim AuBuchon, 9/1
•Nancy Kilpatrick and family on the death of her father Jim Merritt, 8/30
• Marcy Henderson and family on the death of her mother Margery “Midge” White, 8/30
•Bonnie Gleason and family on the death of her brother Bobby Ray Thomason, 8/11
“He found them sleeping”
Thursday, 14 September 2017
Mark 14:32 They went to a place called Gat Sh’manim; and Yeshua said to his talmidim, “Sit here while I pray.” 33 He took with him Kefa, Ya‘akov and Yochanan. Great distress and anguish came over him; 34 and he said to them, “My heart is so filled with sadness that I could die! Remain here and stay awake.” 35 Going on a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that if possible, the hour might pass from him: 36 “Abba!” (that is, “Dear Father!”) “All things are possible for you. Take this cup away from me! Still, not what I want, but what you want.” 37 He came and found them sleeping; and he said to Kefa, “Shim‘on, are you asleep? Couldn’t you stay awake one hour? 38 Stay awake, and pray that you will not be put to the test — the spirit indeed is eager, but human nature is weak.”
-------
Jesus had a profound and powerful sense of mission guiding his steps toward the cross. But that did not make the prospect of a humiliating, violent execution any easier to face. Mark wrote that “he began to feel despair and was anxious.” He took his three closest disciples with him, including Peter, and asked them to “stay alert and pray.” But, any prior boasting notwithstanding, they couldn’t do it.
• One element of this story is simple irony. Peter, the disciple who confidently said, “Even if everyone else stumbles, I won’t,” couldn’t even stay awake for Jesus! Jesus’ response about the eager spirit and weak flesh recalled the psalm that said God shows compassion “because God knows how we’re made, God remembers we’re just dust” (Psalm 103:149). When have you meant well, but just not been up to living out what God wanted you to do?
Ø The story also shows us an important truth. If any human ever had a direct connection to God, it was Jesus. Yet he asked his three closest friends to be with him, stay alert and pray. Do you try to hide your hurts and your needs from your friends, to handle them on your own? Or are you, like Jesus, open to asking people you trust for the friendship and support you need?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, I’m so tempted to say, “Well, I’d have stayed awake with you.” Then I realize I sound like Peter. Keep me humble, putting my confidence in you more than in my own spiritual strength. Amen.
-------
James CochranJames Cochran serves as the Director of Counseling Ministries. He is a licensed professional counselor and completed his graduate studies at University of Missouri – Kansas City. His professional experience includes counseling in a private practice setting, conducting mental health assessments in an emergency room, and developing programs for non-profits. James’s defining passion is helping people become who God created them to be. Resurrection has been James’s home church since he was in elementary school.
The story of Peter falling asleep in Gethsemane offers essential lessons about trust and human weakness. We can look to Peter’s intentions, his behaviors, and his subsequent interactions with Jesus to more clearly understand our own failings.
We look to Peter’s behaviors in this story and our immediate reaction is, “If I’m not careful, I too could find myself yielding to the temptations of the flesh despite my best intentions.” This reaction is fair, and it’s no doubt the most salient truth to be found in this passage. Maybe I’ve been thinking like a therapist too long, but my chief concern when reading this passage is about Peter’s sleep pattern. More specifically, I’m worried about his self-care. And maybe my own.
Peter thought of himself as the star disciple. We see him asking questions when others are silent, saying yes when others are saying no, and getting out of the boat when others stay safely inside. On the one hand, we admire his ambition. Our culture applauds the extra effort, praises the employee who gets in early and stays late, promotes the one who takes on special projects. On the other hand, we know this kind of breakneck pace is the surest recipe for burnout or, in Peter’s case, falling asleep on the job.
I wonder how this story would be different if Peter put more thought into his self-care. For most of us, staying up late to work on a special project isn’t a big deal as long as it’s a once-in-a-while kind of occurrence. But Peter strikes me as the kind of guy who isn’t getting enough sleep. Is he staying up late and waking early, hoping this extra effort will secure him the promotion to “Greatest Among Jesus’s Disciples”?
A little over a year ago, I set out to be very intentional about exercise. I got connected with a remote trainer who would send me workouts to complete, and soon I was in the gym four or five days each week. My hope was I would be able to achieve a level of fitness and energy that would allow me to be a more engaged father and husband. But I started to notice I only felt tired, sore and achy. Far from being filled with energy, I was pushing myself so hard there were times all I had the energy to do was lie on the ground.
I think the moral of this story is, my ambition was actually counter-productive. I was giving so much of myself on a day-in, day-out basis I didn’t have anything left when it really counted. Peter, too, strikes me as the kind of person who wanted to give all of himself, all the time. Unfortunately, when Jesus asked him to stay up late one night he found even his best intentions couldn’t make up for the fact that he was a flesh-and-blood person, and the bill always comes due.
This passage calls me to look at the spaces in my life where my best intentions are leading to poor boundaries or poor self-care. Where am I over-extended? Is it possible my performance would improve if I recommitted to self-care? Maybe if Peter had gotten a good night’s sleep the night before, he would have found his behaviors and his best intentions aligned when it mattered most. Maybe the same is true for all of us.
-------
"Peter drew his sword"
Friday, 15 September 2017
Luke 22:49-51, John 18:3-12
-------
Led by Judas, what seems an absurdly large force arrived to arrest Jesus. Peter, who said, “I’ll give up my life for you” (John 13:37), bravely drew his sword to defend Jesus. Had he kept fighting, he’d likely have died. (Living for Jesus proved the harder task.) Luke, probably showing his physician’s heart (cf. Colossians 4:14), recorded that even amid all that turmoil, Jesus paused to heal the ear that Peter’s slightly misaimed blow had cut off.
Ø Later Jesus told the Roman procurator Pilate, ““My kingdom doesn’t originate from this world. If it did, my guards would fight…. My kingdom isn’t from here.” Peter tried to fight, and Jesus stopped him. We still live in a world where violence often feels like the only viable response to evil. Is it? To what extent do you believe Jesus was right, and to what extent was his situation different from “real life”?
• Think about the man Malchus. “A personal servant of the high priest could wield much authority, including over the temple police.” * The text didn’t follow him further. Do you imagine that, with his ear restored by Jesus’ healing touch, he stayed busy the next day arranging Jesus’ execution? Might that experience have so altered his outlook that, if not immediately, perhaps by the day of Pentecost he was part of the group who responded to Peter’s preaching by joining the Jesus movement (cf. Acts 2:36-41)?
Prayer: King Jesus, when I see things that seem wrong, I so readily use words like “destroy,” “smash” or even “nuke.” But even as you faced the cross, you tried to stop the cycle of violence, not feed it. Teach me more about your ways, your kingdom. Amen.
* HarperCollins Christian Publishing. NIV, Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, eBook: Bringing to Life the Ancient World of Scripture (Kindle Locations 241308-241309). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
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“Peter went out and cried uncontrollably”
Saturday, 16 September 2017
John 18:15-18, 25-27, Luke 22:59-62
-------
Let’s review: of all the disciples, only Peter walked on water (Matthew 14:28-29). He was the first to say flat out that Jesus was the Messiah (Mark 8:27-29). On this fateful evening, Luke wrote, “Lord,” Peter said, “I’m ready to go with you, both to prison and to death!” (Luke 22:33) Yet, when the crunch came, he wasn’t, in fact, “ready.” He discovered that Jesus knew him better than he knew himself. He was no coward—but he was a human being facing kinds of pressure he’d never faced, and didn’t anticipate.
• Pastor Adam Hamilton wrote, “The incident [Peter’s denial] is one of the few that is mentioned in all Four Gospels…. It was not included to embarrass Peter…. The gospel writers knew the story because Peter must have regularly told the awful truth of that episode himself.” * Has pressure ever led you to be ashamed of and to hide your allegiance to Jesus? What do you think Peter saw in Jesus’ eyes when Jesus looked straight at him that broke his heart (and may have preserved his eternal life)? When have you grown through a failure that God’s grace enabled you to embrace and learn from?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, like Peter, I need to keep learning things about myself, finding room to grow even in areas I thought I had mastered. Thank you for your ongoing grace, for nudging me to grow even in places where I may think I’m done growing. Amen.
* Adam Hamilton, 24 Hours that Changed the World. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2009, p. 58. Family Activity: Jesus often shows us the power of forgiveness. Blow up one balloon for each family member. Place them in the center of the room. Invite each family member to choose one balloon and a marker. Ask each person to draw a picture or write words representing something they have done wrong. Read I John 1:9 aloud. Explain that this means that no matter what we do, we can tell God we are sorry and God forgives us. Pray together, asking God to forgive what is written on your balloons. After you pray, have each person pop his or her balloon, representing God forgiving and forgetting your sin. Continue until each person has popped their balloon. Thank God for forgiving our sins.
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Prayer Requests – cor.org/prayer Prayers for Peace & Comfort for:
•Christy Bradley and family on the death of her mother Carolyn McDonald, 9/6
• Julie Allison and family on the death of her mother Barbara Jean Allison, 9/5
•Clay Patterson and family on the death of his step-mother Jeanne Lillig-Patterson, 9/4
•Karl Neybert and Anne Marie Wells and families on the death of their father Gregory Neybert, 9/2
•Cathy AuBuchon and family on the death of her husband Jim AuBuchon, 9/1
•Nancy Kilpatrick and family on the death of her father Jim Merritt, 8/30
• Marcy Henderson and family on the death of her mother Margery “Midge” White, 8/30
•Bonnie Gleason and family on the death of her brother Bobby Ray Thomason, 8/11
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©2017 Church of the Resurrection. All Rights Reserved.
The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
13720 Roe Avenue
Leawood, Kansas 66224, United States
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©2017 Church of the Resurrection. All Rights Reserved.
The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
13720 Roe Avenue
Leawood, Kansas 66224, United States
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